How many eggs would you put in the incubator?

[Agathe]

I currently have 12 eggs in the incubator. These are my own eggs, first time, so I have no idea how they'll do. First time I hatched eggs was last year, out of 20 eggs I got 14 chicks of which 1 died of unknown causes and in the end I wound up with 8 roosters and 5 hens. (Some of the eggs had been shipped in the mail, which may explain the not so great hatching rate.)

This time I'm aiming for 2-4 hens. I have room for 4 more. How many eggs would you keep to have a chance at landing at about the right number? I can't handle 12 chicks as they grow larger because the brooder I'm using this year is smaller than last year, and I really don't want to cull any more than necessary. My plan is if all 12 eggs are fertilised and develop properly (I'm on day 3 now), to remove a few to avoid ending up with too many. At the same time I don't want to risk ending up with just a single hen, though I guess I could put a few roosters in there when integrating so she has company to begin with?

Any advice? I know nothing can be predicted, but any ideas from those of you who've done this a few times would be great!

 

[cavemanrich]

14 from 20 shipped eggs is not bad...
Leave all 12 eggs in incubator. Then when they hatch out,,,, keep as many pullets as you need for your self,,,,, and give the rest away. Hatching overall is usually 50% and 50% . In your first hatch,, you were slightly off on the odds.
Hens/pullets are easy to re-home. You will end up with roosters. My view on such,, is let them grow, and re-home them to someone's dinner table. This way a rooster has decent life with only one bad moment.

With the current avian flu,, I think the need for chickens will rise in the coming times. These roosters will be a welcome addition to someone needing food.


WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Floof]

How many eggs would I put in the incubator? Lol well let's see I wanted to do a test hatch for one of my breeding groups (like 10 eggs?) So I filled both levels of my incubator since it costs the same to run it full as it does half empty. I sell the extra female chicks and give the extra males away to someone with reptiles, although I could probably sell those to someone too.

 

[Agathe]

Giving away or selling chicks isn't a likely option where I am as I am on an island with no other chicken keepers. Expecting someone to have what is necessary to raise chicks, even if they wanted them, is even less likely (no local shops sell anything of the sort either). So I'd still end up with the issue of having to cull extra chicks just for the sake of me having more to choose from, and I have no room for lots of 4-6 week old chicks in order to be certain of the gender before I cull them. I'm really truly aiming for as close a number as I possibly can, although I know it is a shot in the dark.

 

[raingarden]

You've already invested the eggs. Don't count your chickens before they hatch.